First black minister shrugs off threats from Italian far Right

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When Italy’s Prime Minister Enrico Letta chose Cécile Kyenge as his Minister
of Integration, she was seen as a symbol of modernity in a coalition
government unlikely to be able to deliver much in the way of real reform.

But the prominence given to the country’s first black minister, far from
demonstrating social progress, has exposed an undercurrent of racism in
Italian society.

Ms Kyenge has consistently defended her adopted country against such
accusations, pointing out that mass immigration is a relatively new
phenomenon in Italy, and that Italians are capable of a warmth and
hospitality rarely found elsewhere. At